1. Technical Field
The present disclosure generally relates to downhole tools and in particular to methods and apparatus for gas chromatography in a downhole environment.
2. Background Information
Information about subterranean formations traversed by the borehole may be obtained by any number of techniques. Techniques used to obtain formation information include obtaining one or more core samples of the subterranean formations and obtaining fluid samples produced from the subterranean formations these samplings are collectively referred to herein as formation sampling. Modern fluid sampling includes various downhole tests and sometimes fluid samples are retrieved for surface laboratory testing.
Typical in-situ fluid testing techniques use indirect measurements from which fluid properties are estimated. For example, spectroscopic testing includes the measurement of electromagnetic energy that is reflected, refracted or attenuated by interaction with the downhole fluid. The resultant energy is then compared to results from known samples, and the downhole fluid property is estimated based on the comparison. These indirect methods do not provide direct in-situ measurement of fluid property and do not provide quantitative results.